Get in touch

Vivat Veritas

Custom Wedding Dress & Kimono Upcycled Clothes | オーダーメイドウェディングドレス&着物ドレス

/ Archives for blogs / blog

blog

MADE | Archer Button up Silk Variation

By

archer button up shirt silk version7 cover photoMy second try on Grainline Studio Archer Button up shirt! I made the first one in chiffon polyester and was pretty happy with it. It was actually a wearable muslin to prepare for this silk shirt. My attempt to recreate this Equipment shirt without paying $300.

First, this was the most expensive fabric I bought for myself! I buy nice fabrics for bridal customers but I tend to go to sales rack for my own sewing… I ordered it online from Hideki for 2.5 meters, and it cost 5000 yen (50 USD). Thankfully I had my credit card points saved up so I got it for free more or less. The fabric is silk crape de chine in blue gray. I ordered a sample before purchasing. The store lets you order up to 10 samples but I think it is only available to Japan domestic customers. The color I ordered is now sold out but they still have it in pink and gray here.archer button up shirt silk version by vivatveritasarcher button up shirt silk version1I made two modifications to the pattern.

1) add the pocket tab. When you look at this Equipment silk shirt, you can see that there are square pockets with tab on both sides. I drafted the pattern for the tab based on a Japanese sewing book all about pockets. It is pretty easy. The key to it is to add about 4mm on the width of the pocket tab, so that it sits slightly wider than the actual pocket.

2) add sleeve tabs (inspired by Sophie’s shirt!).
I like to roll up the sleeves. For fabrics like chiffon or silk crape de chine, it is hard to keep the roll up sleeves stayed since the fabric is slippery. That’s something I realized after wearing my previous shirt for a few times. I made the tabs based on the store bought shirt I have, but it turned out the width was a bit too narrow for the buttons I used. It was too late to fix it and not that noticeable so I did not fix it.

archer button up shirt silk version8archer button up shirt silk version11I always have hard time when I fold the facings under and topstitch in place from the right side of the garment. I hate the suprise of uneven hem or the hem not being caught. I had to unstitch and fix that. archer button up shirt silk version5

So my question now is…how do you keep the silk shirt without a stain under armpits? I’ve seen one idea on Pinterest, where you attach panty liners on the shirt to prevent a stain. Although it might work just fine, that’s not the most sexy thing. When I wore this shirt, I just wore a long sleeve undershirt and used a lot of anti-perspirin (something I stock up when I go to the U.S.! Evidence here), but that means I can only wear this shirt in the winter. Any suggestions?archer button up shirt silk version6Details | pattern: Grainline Archer Button Up | fabric: silk crape de chine from Hideki | Size: 2 | Modification: added pocket tabs and sleeve tabs |Interface: light weight fusible stretch interface

Outfit details | Shirt made by me, denim DIYed (blogged here), heels from Steven Madden.

シルクのシャツ、作りました。
Equipmentというブランドのシルクシャツが欲しかったのですが、とってもお高いので、自分で作ってみました。
生地はヨーロッパ服地のひできという楽天ショップで買ったシルクデシン。
柔らかくて、熱を保持するので、あったかいです。

デニムは３９０マートで買ったものを自分でリメイク♪

chie sig2

{find me elsewhere: shop, facebook, etsy, twitter, pinterest, instagram}

 

MADE | Chunkeanie by Woolly Wormhead

By

woollywormhead knit hat6 copy
As a sewer, I had stayed away from knitting. I thought knitting was not productive, as it takes hours to complete one project, whereas you can sew up a piece of clothes in a few hours, especially for easy items like a t-shirt or a simple top. If it takes 6, 7 hours to knit up a simple hat, it makes more sense to buy one!? But my friend gave me a book on knitting in exchange for a can of pumpkin (bought during my recent Hawaii trip since they don’t sell a can of pumpkin in Japan..You have to mash them yourself) recently, and convinced me that I should knit. So when I picked up three balls of wool yarns for this simple knit hat project, I wasn’t the most excited. However, when I started the simple motion of knit, purl, knit, purl while watching the Tudors, I was hooked. Something about the simple repetition was so soothing.

Another reason why I had stayed away from knitting was because the knitting patterns confused me. For instance, the pattern I used, Chunkeanie by Woolly Wormhead read, “Rnd 1: *ssk, P16, k2tog; rpt from * to end [72 sts]”. I had no idea what it meant. Learning English was enough for me and I wasn’t ready to learn another language. Thankfully, we have a wonderful thing called Google and by just searching “ssk knitting”, I was able to find videos on youtube to explain what I should do.

I made the largest size in the pattern (the one starts from 80 stitches), and it fit Andy’s head perfectly. Every winter, he wears the ugliest black rib knit hat. I don’t even know where he found it. He said it wasn’t particularly comfortable so he agreed to let me replace his hat with this new one.

This was my first time knitting circle in DPNs. The end stitches are a bit loose, but it ended up being not noticable since the whole hat stretches out when you wear it.

I’m knitting another one for my friend, and thinking of embellishing the hat with some Swarovski crystals. After that, I might try Benton sweater by Brookyn Tweed. Jen’s version looks so good.

woollywormhead knit hat5woollywormhead knit hat7woollywormhead knit hatwoollywormhead knit hat3

今年初の編み物完成品です。
Woolly Wormheadというサイトの、Chunkeanieという無料型紙を使って作りました。

使用したのは、１００％ウールの、100均の毛糸。1個半使いました。
サイズはいちばん大きいサイズを作って、旦那にぴったりでした。
chie sig2

{find me elsewhere: shop, facebook, etsy, twitter, pinterest, instagram}

MADE | Ballet Leotard

By

little girls lace leotard w caption

Kiko recently started taking ballet lessons. She loves it. She gets to run around with other girls and she is enamored by all the girl clothes, and the little girl’s tutu leotard was no exception. I am a bit surprised by how much she is into tulle, dresses and pink since she spends a lot of time with Andy, who is all about boxing, weight lifting and other sorts of sweaty activity.

We went to her lessons a few times with just leggings and t-shirts, but all the other girls were dressed in pretty ballerina attire so I decided to make one for her. First thing I had in mind was to use up the fabric leftover I used to make jazz dance costume. I had a lot of white spandex fabric left over but I could not find it…I must have thrown them away during the move last year. So the only acceptable fabric for this project was the ivory stretch lace from this dress. It was an easy project and I am pleased with how it turned out. I like how it is a bit different from regular solid spandex leotard and I got to reduce the amount of ever growing fabric stash. girl leotard pattern drafting1

As for patterns, I started from Kiko’s bathing suit. I roughly traced the front and back of the bathing suit and added about an inch to the torso for length.

girl leotard pattern draftingHere are all the pattern pieces cut. There are only three: front, back and straps. Very simple! I can use this to make a bigger leotard by adjusting the base pattern when she grows out of this.girls leotard sewingThe leotard is fully lined with a skin color jersey. I first sewed the crotch for both fashion fabric and lining, then right sides facing, I sewed the leg hole (?) area. Before turning them inside out, I added the elastic bands in the seam allowances. I cut them an inch shorter than the length of the leg hole measurement, and stretched them a bit as I sewed. attaching tutu skirt to leotardI had some soft tulle left over from making this veil, so I cut them in long rectangle, gathered the top and attach it to the waist line. I still don’t like cutting and sewing tulle fabric. I get the urge to pull all my hair out whenever I have to deal with this fabric. It drives me crazy that there is no grain line and the fact that it rips so easily. little girls lace leotard4 little girls lace leotard1

This made me want to make Nettie bodysuit by Closet Case. I had seen Sonja and Inna made them and they look great on them. That is going to be the next project after I finish the silk Archer button up!lace leotard娘が最近バレエを始めたので、レッスン用のレオタードを作りました。
型紙は、水着をちょっと変化させて作ったもの。
以前作ったウェディングドレスの残り布を使いました。
タイツとバレエシューズはここで購入したものです。
chie sig2

{find me elsewhere: shop, facebook, etsy, twitter, pinterest, instagram}